The largest kiwifruit grower in New Zealand is warning Zespri to keep supplies of green and Gold kiwifruit in good proportion.
Marketeer Zespri has a moratorium on licences to grow its premium Gold variety world-wide, but Seeka md, Tony de Farias, has said that, in the early stages of the season, Gold and green fruit were shipped in equal volume and is warning demand may soon outstrip supply. Seeka’s total kiwifruit volume this year was 12 million trays, 10m green and 2m Gold.
At this stage in the season, stores of Gold in NZ have already been exhausted.
The marketing period for Gold is naturally shorter but as production comes on-stream from countries outside NZ, where licences have been granted, availability will increase. Zespri does plan ahead to try to match production with demand for both Gold and green fruit and said that preferences alter in different continents.
It is therefore unlikely that the success of Gold kiwifruit will lead to a surplus of green kiwifruit, and Zespri is already running taste trials on red kiwifruit in Japan.
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